Commercial Open Source Software

Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) often contains elements of Free Open Source Software, however limits availability of some generally enhanced functionality to closed proprietary software, thereby creating a potential path to the same old vendor lock-in, and so is not "free" and does not qualify as Free Open Source Software as a whole. Please only document COSS on this page.

Free Open Source Software can be sold and is, for example with support agreements including rapid response, or with service contracts to match configuration to an organization's process workflow, and remain Free Open Source Software, as long as the source code is made available as per the terms of their licenses. Indeed, the primary product of RedHat, the most commercially successful open source company ever, remains a distribution of the Free Open Source Software operating system Linux.

Dual-Licensed Software that is released under a proprietary license for administration reasons can still be Free Open Source Software if all of the software is also made available under license approved by the OSI.

COSS Software

Some COSS software applications are listed below. To include software on the list below a link must be provided to a page describing elements of closed software, i.e. unreleased proprietary code, with or without fees.